A friend of the family heard that I had bought a Canon to shoot the kids games and offered me a Non-IS 300F4 for $450. It has not been used in a couple of years but still works great (focuses, tried on his 7D) and is in near perfect condition. I don't want to take it if it is not a good lens for sports. Should I buy the lens from him or save for a couple of years for either a different 300 prime(F4 IS or F2.8IS) or a long zoom?

When you are shooting a moving object and want to show a sense of action. You will want to pan your shot to blur the background to add the feeling of motion. IS will fight you wanting to Pan. So when shooting motion, I shut down the IS on my lenses or camera. Here is an example panning.

Panning isn't a technique often used in soccer. As to the 300mm IS and how fast the focus speed is: the lens has ring USM focus so it's good. For $450 I think it's a good investment. The real trouble with older lenses is parts in case the lens needs servicing.

I agree this would be a good tool to shoot soccer with for day games, you have the key elements here of good glass and fast focus. John is right that panning is something almost never used for soccer or any field/indoor sport. That is the real of shooting vehicles and some specialist arty shots that I shoot a few times a season but not for the majority of my 'people' sports work.

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Thanks John. He bought the Lens in 94 so it is 16 years old, the bigger issue is that it has sat for at least 5 years. I have also seen that it is unsupported by Canon. I will have to think about it! Also Thanks Mark!

Last edited by waoldrifleman; May 4, 2010 at 7:06 AM.
Reason: Add thanks to Mark

The servicing issue is one to be considered but wouldn't totally let it put me off the lens. I would run more checks, ensure the aperture is stopping down correctly, make sure that images are sharp at close and normal focusing distances and take it from there.

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